Molting White-winged Scoters (Melanitta fusca) in the St. Lawrence estuary: survival estimates, philopatry to molting sites, location of fall staging, wintering, spring staging and breeding areas
Project Number: 127
Year Funded: 2010
Lead Institution(s): Environment and Climate Change Canada
Project Lead: Jean-Pierre Savard
Collaborator(s): Christine Lepage (CWS), Scott Gilliland (CWS), Jean-Francois Giroux
Location: Quebec
Focal Species: White-winged Scoter (Melanitta delgandi)
Project Description: White-winged Scoters have several high priority categories of information needs for management, as identified by the SDJV. Population definition/delineation as well as population size and trends are classified high priority. The recent discovery of White-winged Scoter molting sites in the St. Lawrence estuary and the development of an efficient capture technique provided an opportunity to learn more about the molt ecology of White-winged Scoters and the relationships between molting, wintering and breeding sites. Our main objectives were to determine the fall staging and wintering areas and the breeding areas of White-winged Scoters molting in the St. Lawrence estuary and to assess the level of fidelity to molting sites using satellite telemetry. Tracking data from this project were included in the larger Atlantic and Great Lakes Sea Duck Migration Study.
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